Microelectronic package communication using radio interfaces connected through wiring

ABSTRACT

Microelectronic package communication is described using radio interfaces connected through wiring. One example includes a system board, an integrated circuit chip, and a package substrate mounted to the system board to carry the integrated circuit chip, the package substrate having conductive connectors to connect the integrated circuit chip to external components. A radio on the package substrate is coupled to the integrated circuit chip to modulate the data onto a carrier and to transmit the modulated data. A radio on the system board receives the transmitted modulated data and demodulates the received data, and a cable interface is coupled to the system board radio to couple the received demodulated data to a cable.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/746,792, filed Jan. 22, 2018, which is a U.S. National PhaseApplication under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No.PCT/US2015/052495, filed Sep. 25, 2015, entitled “MICROELECTRONICPACKAGE COMMUNICATION USING RADIO INTERFACES CONNECTED THROUGH WIRING,”which designates the United States of America, the entire disclosure ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety and for allpurposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of high speed communicationsfor computer systems and in particular to coupling communication linesto integrated circuit packages using radio interfaces.

BACKGROUND

In many computer systems multiple integrated circuit chips communicatewith each other to perform the programmed operations. The differentchips may include central processing units, high speed memories, massstorage devices, chipsets, video processors, and input/outputinterfaces. Some computers may have more than one of each of these kindsof chips. The chips are traditionally packaged and then mounted to amotherboard or system board either directly or through a socket or adaughter card.

The chips traditionally communicate using copper interconnects or linksthat travel through the chip's package vias, through the socket, throughthe platform motherboard and then back through the socket and package ofthe next chip. For servers connected through server backplane a signalmay travel from one chip to another server through a package, thesocket, the system board and then to a server backplane. There areadditional signal interfaces to connect from the server backplane to thesignal's destination. These data signal lines also require physicalspace in the socket and in the system board.

For high performance computing and server platforms the speed ofcommunication between the chip packages and to other peripheral orparallel computing systems may limit the overall system performance. Thedata computation tends to be faster than the data movement. The socket,traditionally used to connect chips to each other, has a limited datarate due to the many interfaces for a signal to travel from one chip tothe next or to a server backplane and due to the length of the signalpath.

Some systems use a flexible cable connected directly between twodifferent packages to bypass the socket and the platform motherboard.This provides a more direct path with fewer interfaces through differentconnections and avoids further routing on the motherboard. Flexiblecables with multiple parallel conductors are used to conduct datasignals over short distances between CPUs (Central Processing Unit) orbetween a CPU and another component. The flexible cable is attacheddirectly to the chip packages after the chips are socketed in the systemboard. The package substrate has a cable connector on one or more edgesand a cable is attached to each connector. The cable connects twodifferent chip packages together.

For longer distances an optic fiber interface is used to couple data toand from the chip into an optical fiber to a remote chip. In the sameway, the package is first socketed to the system board. The packageincludes an optical fiber connector on the edge of the package substrateand the optical fibers are connected directly to the package substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a side view cross-sectional diagram of a wireless interconnectfor chip-to-chip communications according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view cross-sectional diagram of an alternative wirelessinterconnect for chip-to-chip communications according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a radio chip and related componentsaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top view diagram of a package with multiple wirelessinterconnects for chip-to-chip communications according to anembodiment.

FIG. 5 is block diagram of a computing system with multiple high speedinterfaces according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view diagram of a package on a systemboard with millimeter wave connectors according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view diagram of a second example of apackage on a system board with millimeter wave connectors according toan embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a top view diagram of a millimeter wave connector according toan embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view diagram of a package on a system board withmillimeter wave connectors according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an isometric view diagram of a package with a cover on asystem board with millimeter wave connectors according to an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a computing device incorporating wirelessinterfaces according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described herein, a mechanical cable or fiber connector on thepackage substrate may be avoided. A wireless interconnect, such as amillimeter wave radio and antenna, may be used instead. A millimeterwave wireless interconnect can be coupled into any of a variety ofdifferent connectors. As examples, an OPIO (On Package Input/Output)module, such as a flex cable connector or an optical module with anoptical connector may be used. These are separate and apart from thepackage substrate for short to medium range transmissions. A wirelessinterconnect is smaller than a cable or fiber interface and thereforeallows the chip package to be smaller. The wireless interconnect alsoavoids the thermal, alignment, and socketing issues caused by electricaland optical connectors on the package. The wireless interconnect mayalso be used to minimize the keep-out zone required on the package.

A millimeter-wave wireless interconnect may be mounted to a packagesubstrate to wirelessly communicate the desired data to and from thepackage to flexible cable connectors or optical modules on the systemboard. High data rates are routed from the CPU (Central Processing Unit)to an RF (Radio Frequency) die which is connected to an on-packageantenna or radiating element. The data is up-converted to a carrierfrequency and sent wirelessly from the package to the flex cableconnector or optical module which also has an antenna anddown-converting RF circuit. Data can also be sent from the opticalmodule back to the on-package antenna and from there to the CPU. Thewireless interconnect may be used to send data to stand-alone memory, amemory die stack, multiple stacked dies of different types, FPGA (FieldProgrammable Gate Array) modules, graphics modules, CPUs or any of avariety of other individual or commonly packaged components.

The millimeter wave wireless interconnect may be applied to manydifferent system architectures including those with multiple dies ormultiple antennas for each cable connector or optical module, or thosewith other stand-alone modules, such as graphics, FPGAs memory, etc. Theradiating element may also have different configurations, such as asingle patch antenna, a fixed beam array, a phased array, etc. If thechip package includes a heat spreader or metal lid that covers most ofthe package then the radiating elements may be formed on the sides ofthe package.

Server platforms are demanding increased high-speed, high-bandwidthchannels between CPUs and with other components on and off a singlesystem board. Taking these signals through a socket into the systemboard reduces signal integrity and requires space on the die, thepackage, and the socket. While flex cable connectors or opticalinterconnects may be used to avoid connecting through the socket andsystem board, putting optical interconnects directly on the packageintroduces other problems. The cables must be precisely aligned. Theconnectors create heat or may be sensitive to heat generated by otherdies in the package, such as a CPU. Moving the cable connectors awayfrom the package reduces the amount of heat that the cable experienceand must dissipate. The cable connectors and cables require physicalspace on the package substrate and the cables or fibers must be removedin order to replace the chip package. Removing the cables or opticalfibers requires additional time and care and degrades the connectors,adding additional points of failure and increasing the cost of replacingthe IC chip package.

The millimeter wave wireless link between the package and the cable orfiber connector allows for high data-rate connections off the packagewithout a significant impact on the size of the package and may alsoreduce the footprint of the package through disaggregation. It does notrequire precision alignment and it generates very little heat. Inaddition, by moving the cable assembly away from the package substrate,the assembly and retention mechanism may be made much more compact. Thekeep-out zone (KOZ) requirements on the package are also reduced byusing the much smaller wireless interface instead of a cable or opticfiber interface.

Since the cable or fiber module does not interact physically with thepackage, an elegant cable retention and handling mechanism can bedesigned, reducing the risk of failure and allowing a cleaner platformor system board design. The separate cable or fiber module may also bereplaced on failure without impacting the CPU package. The connectorsand optical or electrical modules may also be upgraded without affectingthe CPU package.

Wireless connections also allow for simpler scaling and reconfiguring.As an example, the wireless modules can be pre-installed on the packagesince they are low cost. Then the expensive cable or optical fibermodules can be added to the system board during assembly. The particularcable and fiber routing connectors, placement and paths can be optimizedfor the computer system, system board, chassis and intended applicationwithout any impact on the chip package. The same chip package may beapplied to many different systems without modification.

FIG. 1 is a general side view cross-sectional diagram of one example ofa wireless interconnect using antennas for chip to chip communication orfor free space optics. A first 102 and second 104 chip are each mountedto a respective package 106, 108 using a ball grid array (BGA), landgrid array (LGA), or other connection system including pads, wire leads,or other connectors. The packages are mounted to a printed circuit board(PCB) 110, such as a motherboard, system or logic board or daughter cardusing a solder ball array or any other desired system. The packages 106,108 are electrically connected to external components, power, and anyother desired devices through traces (not shown) on or in the PCB. Thechips may also be connected to each other through the PCB. The packagesmay be mounted to the PCB using sockets (not shown), depending on theparticular implementation.

The first and second chip 102, 104 are discussed herein as being centralprocessing units and, in particular, as server CPUs. However, thetechniques and configurations described herein may be applied to manydifferent types of chips for which a high speed communications linkwould be suitable. In some implementations, the chip may include manydifferent functions such as with a SoC (System on a Chip). In otherimplementations, the chips may be memory, a communications interfacehub, a storage device, co-processor or any other desired type of chip.In addition, the two chips may be different so that one may be a CPU andthe other may be a memory or a chipset, for example.

Each chip is also connected through the package to a respective radio112, 114. The radio may be formed of a single die or a package withmultiple dies or using another technique. Each radio is mounted to thepackage near the edge of the package that is near to the other chip. Thepackage may include copper traces, lines, or layers to connectparticular lands, pads, or solder balls of the chip to the radio die fordata and control signals. The radio die may also be connected to thechip to provide power to the radio die. Alternatively, the radio die mayobtain power from an external source through the package connection tothe PCB.

An antenna 116, 118 is also mounted to the package and coupled to theradio. Extremely small antennas may be used that are integrated onto orinto the package substrate. The antennas are configured so that when thepackages are mounted to the PCB, the antennas are directed to eachother. The short distance between the antennas allow for a low power andlow noise connection between the two chips. The wireless interconnectreduces the complexity of the socket and the complexity of themotherboard for the computing platform.

While different frequencies may be used to suit particularimplementations. Millimeter wave and sub-THz frequencies allow for anantenna that is small enough to be integrated on the same package thatis normally used for the chip. The antennas may also be constructedusing the same materials that are used in the fabrication of the packagesubstrate and still exhibit good electrical performance.

In some embodiments, a server may be constructed with multiple CPUs.Each CPU may be mounted to a package with multiple parallel radio dieand antenna sets to provide multiple parallel channels within the serverbetween two CPUs. A small antenna size permitted for millimeter-wavesignals allows each antenna of the package for one of the CPUs to bedirected to a corresponding antenna on the package for the other CPU.This configuration may be used to combine parallel radio connections andprovide Terabit per second data rates.

In some embodiments, a broadband wireless interconnect may be used. Forexample with a radio operating in a radio frequency range of from100-140 GHz, the size of each antenna including the keep out zone can beas small as 1.25×1.25 mm to 2.5×2.5 mm. The actual antenna may be stillsmaller. Considering a typical server CPU package, more than 30 antennasof 1.25×1.25 mm may be placed along one edge of the package. This wouldallow more than 30 separate links each carrying 40-80 Gb/s each over ashort distance. The separate links may all be used to communicate with asingle second chip as shown in FIG. 1 or there may be different packageantennas placed next to different antennas of the CPU package. Thisallows the CPU package to communicate with different chips usingdifferent links.

In addition to the simple point-to-point connection of FIG. 1 ,point-to-multi-point transmission may also be provided without using anexternal switch matrix. The antennas of multiple chip packages may bepositioned within range of the antenna or antennas of one of the CPUpackages. The multiple chip packages may all receive the same signalfrom the CPU package at the same time. In order to control which of themultiple chip package receive a transmission, the radio and antennasystem may include beam steering.

FIG. 2 is a side view cross-sectional diagram of an alternativeconfiguration of a wireless interconnect. As shown a first 202 and asecond 204 chip are mounted to respective package substrates 206, 208which are each mounted to a motherboard 210. Each chip is connected to arespective radio die 212, 214 through its respective package 206, 208.Each radio die 212, 214 is connected to a respective antenna 216, 218.The antennas are positioned to provide a clear and direct wirelessconnection.

The packaged system may take any of a variety of different forms. One orboth of the packages may be a microelectronic module that contains asystem on a chip (SoC) or CPU die 202, 204, a millimeter-wave or sub-THztransceiver chip (radio) 212, 214 and an on-package integrated antenna216, 218. Additional dies and other supporting components such aspassives and connectors may also be assembled on the package substrate206, 208. A SoC die is typically designed and implemented on a lowresistivity digital silicon and may also include typical functions foundin the baseband portion of a wireless module. If the transceiver orradio die is implemented as a separate die, as shown, then it may beimplemented in a high resistivity silicon or on any other type of RFsemiconductor substrate including Gallium Arsenide, Gallium Nitride andcertain polymers. Alternatively, the radio 212 may be implemented on theprimary die 202. A low loss package material processed to have lowsurface roughness may be used for the package 206 to provide superiorelectrical performance in the millimeter-wave and sub-THz frequencyrange. The package materials may include liquid crystal polymers and itsderivatives, pre-preg (pre-impregnated fiberglass resin and epoxy), BT(bismaleimide triazine resin epoxy) laminates, other organic substrates,glass, silicon or ceramic.

The wireless interconnect system includes the transceiver chip 206, theon-package antenna 216, 218 and on-package routing 220, 222 to connectthe transceiver chip to the main chip and to the antenna. The wirelesstransmission also uses a wireless receiver on the other package. Thereceiver system may be a mirror image of the transmitter. Forbidirectional transmission, the millimeter-wave/sub-THz transceiver mayhave both transmit and receive chains.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of a transceiver or radio chipsystem architecture and connected components that may be used for thewireless interconnect described herein. The transceiver chip may take avariety of other forms and may include additional functions, dependingon the particular implementation. This radio design is provided only asan example. The radio chip 350 is mounted to the package substrate 352to which the primary integrated circuit die or chip 202, 203 is alsomounted as shown in FIG. 1 . The substrate 352 is mounted to the PCB ormotherboard. The radio package may include a local oscillator (LO) 302or a connection to an external LO and optionally a switch that allowsthe external LO feed to be used instead of or in addition to theinternal LO. The LO signal may pass an amplifier and multiplier, such asan active doubler 308 and 0/90° quadrature hybrids 310 to drive anupconverter and mixers 314.

The RX (receive) chain 320 may contain a receive antenna 356 in thepackage coupled to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 322 and a widebandbaseband (BB) amplification chain 324 with downconverters 312 for analogto digital conversion. The TX (transmit) chain 340 may include a BBdigital driver chain 342 to the upconverters 314, and a power amplifier(PA) 344 to the transmit antenna 358. There may be multiple transmit andreceive chains to transmit and receive over multiple channelssimultaneously. The various channels may be combined or consolidated indifferent ways, depending on the particular implementation.

The TX and RX chains are both coupled through the substrate to theantenna. There may be a single antenna for TX and RX or there may beseparate RX and TX antennas as shown. The antennas may be designed tohave different radiation patterns to suit different wirelessconnections. In the example of FIG. 2 , the first chip's antenna 216 hasa wide beam transmit and receive pattern 330. This may allow the chip tocommunicate with multiple antennas in different locations on themotherboard. The second chip's antenna 218, on the other hand has anarrow beam transmit and receive pattern 332. This allows power to beconcentrated in a single direction for communication with just one otherdevice.

FIG. 4 is a top view diagram of an example of an implementation ofmultiple wireless interconnects on a single microserver package. In thisexample, separate antennas are used to transmit and receive, but it isalso possible to share the antenna between the Tx and the Rx chains. Theantenna size may vary from 1.25×1.25 mm or less to 2.5×2.5 mm or moredepending on the carrier frequency, desired gain, and transmissionrange.

A single integrated circuit chip or die 402 includes both processing andbaseband systems and is mounted to a package 404. The baseband sectionsof the chip are coupled through on package traces 430 to radio chips ordies which are in turn coupled through the package to antennas. In thisexample, the die integrated circuit chip is a CPU for a microserver andis rectangular. There are radio chips on each of the four sides of theCPU. The sides shown as top, left, and bottom in the drawing figure eachhave a respective radio 424, 410, 420 coupled to a respective Tx, Rxantenna pair 426, 412, 422. The side shown as the right side shows fiveradios each connected to a respective antenna pair. The number of radiosand antennas on each side may be determined based on communication rateneeds in each direction.

Very few high speed links may be required on a microserver package. Asingle link is able to deliver data rates in excess of 40 Gb/s across adistance of a few cm. The data rate may still be on the order of 5-10Gb/s for transmission distances of up to 50 cm.

FIG. 4 shows many wireless links implemented on the same side of onepackage. This allows the aggregate data rate to be increased.Alternatively, the data may be sent to different other devices that arein the same general direction. Both the radio chips and the antennas areplaced towards the edge of the package to limit obstructions in theradio path that may come from heat sinks and heat spreaders. In generalthe losses for a copper trace baseband signal are much lower than thelosses through the same copper trace for an RF signal. As a result, theradio chips may be kept very close to the antenna. This limitselectrical signal and power losses due to the RF routing through thesubstrate. The radio chip may be installed onto the package in anymanner desired and may even be embedded in or a part of the substrate.By using multiple radios, the on-package millimeter-wave wirelessinterconnects can be scaled for extremely high data rate applications.This may be useful in systems such as servers and media recording,processing, and editing systems. As shown, multiple links can be puttogether to achieve data-rates close to a Tb/s.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computing system 500 with multiple highspeed interfaces that may be implemented using the wireless connectionsas described herein. The computing system may be implemented as aserver, microserver, workstation, or other computing device. The systemhas two processors 504, 506 having multiple processing cores althoughmore processors may be used, depending on the particular implementation.The processors are coupled together through a suitable interconnect suchas the wireless interconnect described herein. The processors are eachcoupled to a respective DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) module 508,510 using a suitable connection, such as the wireless connectiondescribed herein. The processors are also each coupled to a PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect) interface 512, 514. This connectionmay also be wired or wireless.

The PCI interfaces allow for connections to a variety of high speedadditional components such as graphics processors 516 and other highspeed I/O systems for display, storage and I/O. The graphics processordrives a display 518. Alternatively, the graphics processor is core or adie within one or both of the processors. The graphics processor mayalso be coupled to a different interface through a chipset.

The processors are also both coupled to a chipset 502 which provides asingle point of contact for many other interfaces and connections. Theconnection to the chipset may also be wired or wireless, one or both ofthe processors may be connected to the chipset, depending on theimplementation. As shown, a processor 504 may have a wireless connectionto one or more processors 506, memory 508, peripheral components 512,and a chipset 502. These connections may all be wireless as suggested bythe multiple radio and antennas of FIG. 4 . Alternatively, some of theseconnections may be wired. The processor may have multiple wireless linksto the other processor. Similarly the chipset 502 may have wirelessconnections to one or more of the processors as well as to the variousperipheral interfaces as shown.

The chipset is coupled to USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface 520 whichmay provide ports for connections to a variety of other devicesincluding a user interface 534. The chipset may be connected to SATA(Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) interfaces 522, 524 which mayprovide ports for mass storage 536 or other devices. The chipset may beconnected to other high speed interfaces such as a SAS (Serial AttachedSmall computer serial interface) interface 526 with ports for additionalmass storage 528, additional PCI interfaces 530 and communicationsinterfaces 532, such as Ethernet, or any other desired wired or wirelessinterface. The described components are all mounted to one or moreboards and cards to provide the described connections.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view diagram of a millimeter waveconnector on a package substrate using two different approaches forcoupling to other devices. A system board 602 supports a packagesubstrate 606 through an optional socket 604. The package substratecarries one or more dies 608 such as a CPU or other processor, aco-processor, and any associated components such as memory, input/outputinterfaces, etc. The package includes a radio die 612 near an edge ofthe packet substrate as described above. There may be many more radiodies as discussed above and a second radio die 614 is shown on theopposite edge of the substrate. In this particular type of package anintegrated heat spreader (IHS) 630 is attached over the top of the dieto conduct heat away from the package. However the package may befinished in any way, depending on the implementation. This internal heatsink 630 may be constructed to stop short of the radios 612, 614 so thatthe radios are not covered in the same way that the antennas 616, 622are not covered by the heat sink. 630

The radio die 612 as shown on the left is coupled to a radiating element616 such as a focused directional antenna for millimeter wave transmitand receive. A millimeter wave connector 618 is mounted to the systemboard 602 near the antenna 616 and in the direct line of sight of theantenna to receive millimeter wave signals from the antenna and todirect millimeter wave signal to the antenna. While the connector isshown as being mounted directly to the system board, it mayalternatively, be mounted to a support stand to carry the connector at aselected distance from the top of the system board 602. The connectormay alternatively be mounted to a similar stand-along package 606 likethat shown containing a plurality of memory dies, a graphics card, or anFPGA. The distance or standoff may correspond to the distance of theradiating elements from the top of the system board. The antennas may beconfigured to direct the modulated data signals downwards or upwards orsideways from the package substrate as well as laterally away from thepackage substrate depending on the position of the connector.

With the millimeter-wave connector 618 mounted directly to the systemboard, the additional operations of fabricating and mounting thestandoff are avoided. The radiating element may then be configured todirect the signals downwards toward the connector. This presents somebenefits in simplicity. However the connector may be farther from theradiating element and its construction may be more complex. Theparticular design and location of the connector and radiating elementmay be adapted to suit different implementations.

In order to increase the signal density antennas may be stacked withinthe package substrate or a first antenna may be within the substrate asshown for example in FIG. 7 and a second may be placed on top of thepackage substrate as shown in FIG. 6 . The antennas may be configured sothat the lower antenna is directed downward and the upper antenna isdirected upward or sideways. Corresponding connectors may then bestacked with two different standoffs or offsets from the surface of thesystem board so that one is coupled to the lower antenna and the otheris coupled to the upper antenna.

The connector 618 includes an optical module and is directly coupled toone or more optical fibers 620 which carry the millimeter wave signal toanother device. At the other end of the fibers another connector maycouple the millimeter wave signals to another chip package similar tothe one illustrated.

The radio die 614 shown on the right side of the package is also coupledto a radiating element 622 on top of the substrate similar to the one onthe opposite side. A millimeter wave connector 626 is also mounted tothe system board a short distance away from the antenna as on the leftside. The millimeter wave connector 626 may be an OPIO or otherconnector that is coupled to one or more cables such as a flex cable 628to conduct the radio signals to and from the radio 614.

The connector may be active containing its own RF die coupled to a powersource to extract the baseband signal with the data and to thenretransmit and remodulate that signal as an optical or electricalsignal. Alternatively, the connector may have an active repeater oramplifier that operates without demodulating the received millimeterwave signal.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view diagram of a second exampleimplementation of a wireless connector system for a chip package. One ormore dies 708, passives and other components are attached to a packagesubstrate 706 and optionally covered by an integrated heat spreader 730,mold compound, or other material or structure. The package is coupled toa system board 702 directly or optionally through a socket 704 as shown.The package includes radio dies 712, 714 coupled to one or more of thedies 708 through the package substrate. The connection is typicallythrough traces on the top surface of the substrate but may be in anyother way. The radios receiver power through the substrate andcommunicate data to and from the die 708 through the substrate. Theradios modulate the data onto a carrier which is coupled to antennas716, 722 or radiating elements to radiate the modulated data to anotherdevice and to receive modulated data from the other device.

In the example of FIG. 7 , the left side 716 and right side 722radiating elements are formed within the layers of the package substrate706 instead of being formed over the top of the package. The conductivetraces between the radio die and the radiating elements may be at thelevel of the radiating elements or across the top of the substrate orboth. Metal layers of the package substrate may be used to connect tothe radio. This approach allows more space to be available on the top ofthe substrate for other purposes. It may also allow the heat spreader730 or another cover to completely cover the top of the package withoutinterfering with the antennas.

These radiating elements 716, 722 are nevertheless configured to directthe modulated data laterally away from the side of the substrate. Thisis the same direction used by the radiating elements of FIG. 6 . Themodulated data for the left side antennas is coupled into an OPIO 718which couples the data into optical fibers 720. Alternatively, themodulated data may be coupled into some other stand-alone module, suchas a memory stack, an FPGA, or a graphics module instead of couplinginto a cable to a remote component. The modulated data for the rightside antenna is coupled to another connector 726 which couples data intoelectrical wire cables 728. The data may be communicated from theseconnectors over the associated links to a nearby chip package with itsown radio and antennas or to any other desired communication node.

The illustrated millimeter wave connectors 618, 622, 718, 722 may beused as a direct replacement for the directly connected electricalconnectors, but without requiring direct contact with the package. As aresult, the die package 606 may be removed and replaced or re-socketedwithout affecting the fiber or wire connections. The millimeter waveconnectors may be active containing an internal RF die which extractsthe baseband signal from the received millimeter wave modulated signaland transmits that data over the optical fiber or an electrical(coax-like) cable.

FIG. 8 is a top view diagram of a millimeter wave connector suitable foruse in the diagrams as shown. The connector is built on a substrate 802which may be formed of any dielectric material. A moderately flexibledielectric such as polyimide may be used or a more rigid material suchas glass or silicon oxide may be used. The substrate is adapted to befastened to the package substrate or to a support stand. This may bedone using removable fasteners (not shown) or an adhesive. The connectorcan be assembled to the package substrate through guide pins, a clampmechanism, or any of a variety of other ways, depending on theparticular implementation.

At one side and along the edge of the substrate 802, the connector has aseries of radiating elements 804 or antennas. These may be formed in thesubstrate as slotted waveguide antennas, as deposited metal structures,as microstrip, or in any other suitable way. These antennas communicatewith the antennas of the chip package to receive and transmit themodulated data signals from the chip package. The antennas may be formedby applying a conductive element to the surface of the substrate. Thismay be done by deposition, or using an adhesive with pre-formedmaterials. The antennas may be formed from copper, aluminum, or anyother suitable conductive material.

The radiating elements each have a trace or wiring element to connect toa respective radio frequency (RF) die. The RF dies demodulate thereceived signal extract the baseband data and then coupled it to arespective copper conductor 808 which is then coupled to a cable 810,such as flex cable. For the OPIO, the RF die is coupled to an opticalmodulator that couples the signal to an optical fiber.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a portion of a system board 902 with awireless cable connector. A socket 904 is mounted to the system boardwith a semiconductor chip package 906 mounted in the socket. Only asmall section of the system board is shown there may be many othercomponents mounted to the same system board. A set of radio transceivers908 is mounted to one side of the package substrate along an edge. Thesetransceivers may include radio dies and radiating elements coupled toone or more larger semiconductor chips of the package as describedabove. The radio transceivers may use multiple channels and carrierwithin a millimeter wave band to send and receive data with one or moreother devices. While this example shows transceivers on only one edge ofthe package, more edges and even all package edges may have radiotransceivers, depending on the implementation.

Wireless cable connectors 910 are mounted to the system board proximatethe radio transceivers. These cable connectors may take the form ofthose shown in FIG. 8 with one or more radio antennas coupled to one ormore RF dies coupled in turn to the cables 912. As mentioned above, anoptical fiber interface may be used instead of the cable interface. Asshown multiple cables may be used. The cable may all connect to the sameremote component in order to provide for high data rates. Alternativelysome of the cables may connect to different remote components so thatthe integrated circuit chip packet has connections to many differentremote components. The remote component may be another chip or acommunications hub or backplane.

As shown in FIG. 9 , the socket 904 and the package 906 are physicallyseparate and apart from the connectors 910. As a result, the package andeven the socket may be removed and replaced without affecting theconnectors. The package may be designed and fabricated without regardfor the type, size, and number of cables. The same package may be usedfor flex cable as for optical fiber connectors. This allows a singlepackage design to be used in many different system configurations.

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the same components as in FIG. 9 with aheat sink or cover 914 shown above the package substrate 902 and readyto be added to the assembly over the package 906 and attached to thesocket 904 using screws (not shown) or some other fastener. The heatsink may be provided with a window 916 in the position between the radiotransceivers 908 and the connectors 910. The window may be a specialinsert made from a material that is transparent to millimeter wave radiocarriers or it may be a slot or reveal cut out of the heat sink.Alternatively, the entire heat sink may be constructed of a materialthat is transparent to millimeter wave radio signals.

As shown, the socket, package, and any cooling solution or cover can beassembled in a separate operation from connecting the cables. Customersor users can install cable assemblies as desired without having tointerfere with the package. In addition to being easier to connect andinstall the cables, it is also easier to design a system using the radioconnectors. The design risks from the package and connector interactionis taken out of the consideration because there is no direct physicalinteraction. Furthermore, it becomes much easier to design a cable(optical or copper) management or retention mechanism. In addition, thesystem is more scalable. As an example, packages can be manufacturedwith the capability to support higher bandwidth external communications.Customers may then install cable assemblies to meet their bandwidthrequirements and system architecture. Customers may also upgrade cableassemblies later to higher data rates or bandwidths without affectingthe installed package.

FIG. 11 illustrates a computing device 100 in accordance with anotherimplementation. The computing device 100 houses a board 2. The board 2may include a number of components, including but not limited to aprocessor 4 and at least one communication chip 6. The processor 4 isphysically and electrically coupled to the board 2. In someimplementations the at least one communication chip 6 is also physicallyand electrically coupled to the board 2. In further implementations, thecommunication chip 6 is part of the processor 4.

Depending on its applications, computing device 11 may include othercomponents that may or may not be physically and electrically coupled tothe board 2. These other components include, but are not limited to,volatile memory (e.g., DRAM) 8, non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM) 9, flashmemory (not shown), a graphics processor 12, a digital signal processor(not shown), a crypto processor (not shown), a chipset 14, an antenna16, a display 18 such as a touchscreen display, a touchscreen controller20, a battery 22, an audio codec (not shown), a video codec (not shown),a power amplifier 24, a global positioning system (GPS) device 26, acompass 28, an accelerometer (not shown), a gyroscope (not shown), aspeaker 30, a camera 32, and a mass storage device (such as hard diskdrive) 10, compact disk (CD) (not shown), digital versatile disk (DVD)(not shown), and so forth). These components may be connected to thesystem board 2, mounted to the system board, or combined with any of theother components.

The communication chip 6 enables wireless and/or wired communicationsfor the transfer of data to and from the computing device 11. The term“wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits,devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc.,that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagneticradiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that theassociated devices do not contain any wires, although in someembodiments they might not. The communication chip 6 may implement anyof a number of wireless or wired standards or protocols, including butnot limited to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 family),IEEE 802.20, long term evolution (LTE), Ev-DO, HSPA+, HSDPA+, HSUPA+,EDGE, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, Bluetooth, Ethernet derivativesthereof, as well as any other wireless and wired protocols that aredesignated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The computing device 11 mayinclude a plurality of communication chips 6. For instance, a firstcommunication chip 6 may be dedicated to shorter range wirelesscommunications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and a second communicationchip 6 may be dedicated to longer range wireless communications such asGPS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Ev-DO, and others.

In some implementations, any one or more of the components may beadapted to use the wireless connection described herein. The features ofthe system of FIG. 11 may be adapted to that of FIG. 7 and vice versa.For example, the system of FIG. 11 may carry multiple processors. Thesystem of FIG. 7 may include any one or more of the peripherals shown inFIG. 11 . The term “processor” may refer to any device or portion of adevice that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory totransform that electronic data into other electronic data that may bestored in registers and/or memory.

In various implementations, the computing device 11 may be a laptop, anetbook, a notebook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, a tablet, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), an ultra mobile PC, a mobile phone, a desktopcomputer, a server, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, anentertainment control unit, a digital camera, a portable music player,or a digital video recorder. In further implementations, the computingdevice 11 may be any other electronic device that processes dataincluding a wearable device.

Embodiments may be implemented as a part of one or more memory chips,controllers, CPUs (Central Processing Unit), microchips or integratedcircuits interconnected using a motherboard, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), and/or a field programmable gate array(FPGA).

References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “example embodiment”,“various embodiments”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) sodescribed may include particular features, structures, orcharacteristics, but not every embodiment necessarily includes theparticular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, someembodiments may have some, all, or none of the features described forother embodiments.

In the following description and claims, the term “coupled” along withits derivatives, may be used. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two ormore elements co-operate or interact with each other, but they may ormay not have intervening physical or electrical components between them.

As used in the claims, unless otherwise specified, the use of theordinal adjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe acommon element, merely indicate that different instances of likeelements are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that theelements so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally,spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

The drawings and the forgoing description give examples of embodiments.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of thedescribed elements may well be combined into a single functionalelement. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiplefunctional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added toanother embodiment. For example, orders of processes described hereinmay be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein.Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in theorder shown; nor do all of the acts necessarily need to be performed.Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performedin parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no meanslimited by these specific examples. Numerous variations, whetherexplicitly given in the specification or not, such as differences instructure, dimension, and use of material, are possible. The scope ofembodiments is at least as broad as given by the following claims.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments. The variousfeatures of the different embodiments may be variously combined withsome features included and others excluded to suit a variety ofdifferent applications. Some embodiments pertain to an apparatus thatincludes a system board, an integrated circuit chip, a package substratemounted to the system board to carry the integrated circuit chip, thepackage substrate having conductive connectors to connect the integratedcircuit chip to external components, a radio on the package substratecoupled to the integrated circuit chip to modulate the data onto acarrier and to transmit the modulated data, a radio on the system boardto receive the transmitted modulated data and to demodulate the receiveddata, and a cable interface coupled to the system board radio to couplethe received demodulated data to a cable.

In further embodiments the cable is a multiple conductor flex cable.

In further embodiments the cable is at least one coaxial conductor.

In further embodiments the cable is an optical fiber.

Further embodiments include an optical fiber modulator coupled to theradio to receive the demodulated data and to modulate the receiveddemodulated data onto an optical fiber.

In further embodiments the system board radio includes a plurality ofradiating elements, a plurality of radio dies each coupled to arespective radiating element to demodulate data received at theradiating element, and a plurality of cables, each coupled to arespective radio die.

Further embodiments include a plurality of optical modulators andwherein the radio dies are each coupled to a cable through an opticalmodulator.

In further embodiments the system board radio comprises a plurality ofradio dies, the apparatus further comprising a dielectric substratehaving a series of antennas each having a wiring element to connect to arespective radio die, each radio die being coupled to a respectivecable.

In further embodiments the series of antennas are formed as slottedwaveguide antennas using metal structures deposited on the dielectricsubstrate.

Further embodiments include a heat sink over the integrated circuit chipand the package substrate, the heat sink having a window between theradio on the package substrate and the system board radio.

Further embodiments include traces on the package substrate to connectthe integrated circuit chip to the radio on the package substrate.

In further embodiments the radio on the package substrate is formedwithin layers of the package substrate and is connected to the packagesubstrate through metal layers of the package substrate.

Some embodiments pertain to a computing device that includes a systemboard, a central processing unit (CPU), a package substrate mounted tothe system board to carry the CPU, the package substrate havingconductive connectors to connect the CPU to external components, a radioon the package substrate coupled to the CPU to modulate the data onto acarrier and to transmit the modulated data, a radio on the system boardto receive the transmitted modulated data and to demodulate the receiveddata, a cable interface coupled to the system board radio to couple thereceived demodulated data to a cable, and a chipset carried by thesystem board coupled through the system board to the integrated circuitchip through the package.

Further embodiments include a second CPU, a second package substratemounted to the system board to carry the CPU, a second cable interfaceto receive the demodulated data from the first CPU from the cable, and asecond system board radio to modulate the received data from the secondcable interface onto a carrier and transmit the modulated data to asecond radio on the second package substrate, the second radio on thepackage substrate to demodulate the data from the carrier and totransmit the demodulated data to the second CPU.

Further embodiments include an optical fiber modulator coupled to theradio to receive the demodulated data and to modulate the receiveddemodulated data onto an optical fiber.

In further embodiments the system board radio comprises a plurality ofradio dies, the apparatus further comprising a dielectric substratehaving a series of antennas each having a wiring element to connect to arespective radio die, each radio die being coupled to a respectivecable.

In further embodiments the series of antennas are formed as slottedwaveguide antennas using metal structures deposited on the dielectricsubstrate.

Some embodiments pertain to an apparatus that includes a system board,an integrated circuit chip package mounted to the system board having anintegrated circuit chip, a radio and conductive connectors to connectthe chip to the radio, the radio to modulate data from the chip onto acarrier and to transmit the modulated data away from the package, theradio further to receive modulated data, to demodulate the received dataand to transmit the demodulated data to the chip, a radio on the systemboard to receive the transmitted modulated data and to demodulate thereceived data, a first cable interface on the system board to receivethe transmitted demodulated data from the system board radio and tocouple the received demodulated data into a cable, and a second cableinterface coupled to the cable to connect the received demodulated datain the cable to a remote device.

In further embodiments the remote device comprises a radio to transmitthe data to a second integrated circuit chip package.

Further embodiments include a dielectric substrate attached to thesystem board, having a radiating element facing the package radio, thesystem board radio and the first cable interface, the substrate furtherbeing attached to an end of the cable.

In further embodiments, the package includes a plurality of additionalradios connected to the chip to transmit data to a plurality ofdifferent external components.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computing device comprising: a systemboard; a central processing unit (CPU); a package substrate mounted tothe system board to carry the CPU, the package substrate havingconductive connectors to connect the CPU to external components throughthe system board; a radio on the package substrate coupled to the CPU tomodulate the data onto a carrier and to transmit the modulated data; aradio on the system board to receive the transmitted modulated data andto demodulate the received data; a cable interface coupled to the systemboard radio to couple the received demodulated data to a cable; achipset carried by the system board coupled through the system board tothe integrated circuit chip through the package; a second CPU; a secondpackage substrate mounted to the system board to carry the CPU; a secondcable interface to receive the demodulated data from the first CPU fromthe cable; and a second system board radio to modulate the received datafrom the second cable interface onto a carrier and transmit themodulated data to a second radio on the second package substrate, thesecond radio on the package substrate to demodulate the data from thecarrier and to transmit the demodulated data to the second CPU.
 2. Acomputing device comprising: a system board; a central processing unit(CPU); a package substrate mounted to the system board to carry the CPU,the package substrate having conductive connectors to connect the CPU toexternal components through the system board; a radio on the packagesubstrate coupled to the CPU to modulate the data onto a carrier and totransmit the modulated data; a radio on the system board to receive thetransmitted modulated data and to demodulate the received data; a cableinterface coupled to the system board radio to couple the receiveddemodulated data to a cable; a chipset carried by the system boardcoupled through the system board to the integrated circuit chip throughthe package; and an optical fiber modulator coupled to the radio toreceive the demodulated data and to modulate the received demodulateddata onto an optical fiber.
 3. A computing device comprising: a systemboard; a central processing unit (CPU); a package substrate mounted tothe system board to carry the CPU, the package substrate havingconductive connectors to connect the CPU to external components throughthe system board; a radio on the package substrate coupled to the CPU tomodulate the data onto a carrier and to transmit the modulated data; aradio on the system board to receive the transmitted modulated data andto demodulate the received data; a cable interface coupled to the systemboard radio to couple the received demodulated data to a cable; and achipset carried by the system board coupled through the system board tothe integrated circuit chip through the package, wherein the systemboard radio comprises a plurality of radio dies, the apparatus furthercomprising a dielectric substrate having a series of antennas eachhaving a wiring element to connect to a respective radio die, each radiodie being coupled to a respective cable.
 4. The computing device ofclaim 3, wherein the series of antennas are formed as slotted waveguideantennas using metal structures deposited on the dielectric substrate.5. An apparatus comprising: a system board; an integrated circuit chippackage mounted to the system board having an integrated circuit chip, aradio and conductive connectors to connect the chip to the radio, theradio to modulate data from the chip onto a carrier and to transmit themodulated data away from the package, the radio further to receivemodulated data, to demodulate the received data and to transmit thedemodulated data to the chip; a radio on the system board to receive thetransmitted modulated data and to demodulate the received data; a firstcable interface on the system board to receive the transmitteddemodulated data from the system board radio and to couple the receiveddemodulated data into a cable; and a second cable interface coupled tothe cable to connect the received demodulated data in the cable to aremote device.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the remote devicecomprises a radio to transmit the data to a second integrated circuitchip package.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising adielectric substrate attached to the system board, having a radiatingelement facing the package radio, the system board radio and the firstcable interface, the substrate further being attached to an end of thecable.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5, the package further comprising aplurality of additional radios connected to the chip to transmit data toa plurality of different external components.
 9. A computing devicecomprising: a system board; a central processing unit (CPU); a packagesubstrate mounted to the system board to carry the CPU, the packagesubstrate having conductive connectors to connect the CPU to externalcomponents through the system board; a radio on the package substratecoupled to the CPU to modulate the data onto a carrier and to transmitthe modulated data; a radio on the system board to receive thetransmitted modulated data and to demodulate the received data; a cableinterface coupled to the system board radio to couple the receiveddemodulated data to a cable; a display coupled through the system boardto the integrated circuit chip through the package; and an optical fibermodulator coupled to the radio to receive the demodulated data and tomodulate the received demodulated data onto an optical fiber.
 10. Thecomputing device of claim 9, further comprising: a second CPU; a secondpackage substrate mounted to the system board to carry the CPU; a secondcable interface to receive the demodulated data from the first CPU fromthe cable; and a second system board radio to modulate the received datafrom the second cable interface onto a carrier and transmit themodulated data to a second radio on the second package substrate, thesecond radio on the package substrate to demodulate the data from thecarrier and to transmit the demodulated data to the second CPU.
 11. Thecomputing device of claim 9, wherein the system board radio comprises aplurality of radio dies, the apparatus further comprising a dielectricsubstrate having a series of antennas each having a wiring element toconnect to a respective radio die, each radio die being coupled to arespective cable.
 12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein theseries of antennas are formed as slotted waveguide antennas using metalstructures deposited on the dielectric substrate.
 13. A computing devicecomprising: a system board; a central processing unit (CPU); a packagesubstrate mounted to the system board to carry the CPU, the packagesubstrate having conductive connectors to connect the CPU to externalcomponents through the system board; a radio on the package substratecoupled to the CPU to modulate the data onto a carrier and to transmitthe modulated data; a radio on the system board to receive thetransmitted modulated data and to demodulate the received data; a cableinterface coupled to the system board radio to couple the receiveddemodulated data to a cable; a graphic GPU carried by the system boardcoupled through the system board to the integrated circuit chip throughthe package; and an optical fiber modulator coupled to the radio toreceive the demodulated data and to modulate the received demodulateddata onto an optical fiber.
 14. The computing device of claim 13,further comprising: a second CPU; a second package substrate mounted tothe system board to carry the CPU; a second cable interface to receivethe demodulated data from the first CPU from the cable; and a secondsystem board radio to modulate the received data from the second cableinterface onto a carrier and transmit the modulated data to a secondradio on the second package substrate, the second radio on the packagesubstrate to demodulate the data from the carrier and to transmit thedemodulated data to the second CPU.
 15. The computing device of claim13, wherein the system board radio comprises a plurality of radio dies,the apparatus further comprising a dielectric substrate having a seriesof antennas each having a wiring element to connect to a respectiveradio die, each radio die being coupled to a respective cable.
 16. Thecomputing device of claim 15, wherein the series of antennas are formedas slotted waveguide antennas using metal structures deposited on thedielectric substrate.